What do you get if you mix a background in aeronautical engineering, experience in fashion design, a talent for origami, and a passion for sustainability?

The answer is pioneering designer Ryan Yasin, whose range of children’s clothing recently hit the news for winning the prestigious James Dyson UK award. The reason he won and why his designs are causing such excitement – especially among parents and the environmental press – is because these clothes are not the usual throwaway fare. They actually grow with the babies and toddlers that wear them.

The outerwear range, which is made from pleated lightweight fabric and is waterproof, machine washable and recyclable, can expand up to seven sizes – the number of sizes most kids grow in their first two years of life. It was the 24-year-old designer’s increasing dismay at the wastefulness of the fashion industry that sparked the idea while studying at the Royal College of the Arts.

“I became really disheartened about how fashion operates and the unethical aspects of it both on a human level and on a sustainability and resource level,” he says. Despite campaigns against fast fashion – the term used to describe how disposable clothing has become – the problem isn’t going away. “I think we’re entering an era of fashion a bit like Netflix and Spotify, where we’re streaming fashion. It’s constantly changing and we’re constantly buying cheap items, which we know will go out of style soon, but we don’t care because it will break anyway and it is a small amount of money.”

Buying clothes used to be an investment and you bought quality items to last, says Yasin. “As consumers, we have become so desensitised to the value of clothes. You can buy an item for £5, but if you think about the journey that it’s been on and that every item is a handmade product, it’s that price because people have suffered along the way.”

Children’s attire wasn’t on his mind until a visit to his sister and her children in Denmark. His sister had just had her second child and by the time Yasin got to visit her, his nephew was too big for the clothes he had brought over with him. “That was the signal for me that kids are growing really quick and the clothing made for them today is just miniaturised adult clothing, which is not really suitable for their bodies. Children’s bodies aren’t static, they are changing all the time and I think it would be much better to think of them as dynamic objects, and then design clothing for that,” he says.

He tried a few different ideas, but the one that resonated most with the parents he consulted was the one-size-fits-all concept. He created his first prototype at home and tried them on his nephew and niece. “The trousers fit both the newborn and the two and a half year old. My sister thought they were great because many parents she knew complained about having to buy so many clothes.”

Following more user testing – and receiving lots of positive feedback in the process – Yasin decided to pursue the business, now called Petit Pli . That’s not to say he hasn’t faced a lot of scepticism. “I had a lot of people questioning it and I would have to convince myself that I was doing the right thing,” he says.

Some wondered how an aeronautical engineering graduate could possibly move into the world of fashion. While studying at Imperial College in London, he worked with a team developing small satellites for Earth observation. The satellites would be sent into space folded up, but ready to open out when deployed. He enjoyed the work and it was how he first learned origami and folding techniques. However, he wanted to do something much more creative with the technical skills he had.

Later, at the Royal College of the Arts, Yasin was able to work with materials in his hands rather than designing from a computer and, after spending six months in Tokyo on an exchange programme, he decided to move into fashion. While in Tokyo he designed a conceptual piece – again based on a folding structure – for the fashionistas of the city’s renowned style district, Harajuku.

The piece, an origami-inspired collar, could be worn folded up as a modest cloth necklace, or unfurled as a larger ruff, adorned with flamboyant brightly coloured embellishments.

Afterwards, however, he craved a more tangible project he could turn into a business.

Winning the Dyson award was a huge confidence boost. He says: “It was so nice to get that stamp of approval, that this was an intelligent design engineering solution. An engineer going into the world of fashion, especially kids’ wear, isn’t that common.”

Since the win he has been visiting suppliers and manufacturers. “Making sure there is an ethical supply chain is extremely important to me as that was the starting point to this project. If I veered away from that it would lose its whole foundation and meaning.”

As the research and development phase draws to a close, Yasin has also been developing a team. He is in talks with investors and retailers and is looking to raise £100,000 to expand staff and supply chains, and to help complete the research and design stage.

“It’s promising, but these things do take time so I’m just trying to push [the business] as far as I can without having to rely on the investment,” he says. “We’re looking for non-silent investors who really believe in what we’re doing, especially in the whole sustainable and ethical aspect. There are lots of great people out there, so I’m optimistic.”

Later this month, the global winner of the James Dyson award will be announced, but Yasin isn’t giving it much thought. “I’m just so focused on taking my company forward, but it would be amazing if I did win,” he says. “Whatever happens, I’m going to get this out there.”

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